Founder and co-founder of the Energy Passive House Concept Wolfgang Feist visited CTU

Publication date:

2018/06/11

Professor of Building Physics at the University of Innsbruck and founder of the Passivhaus Institut in Darmstadt, Wolfgang Feist, visited the University Center of Energy-Efficient Buildings of the CTU with a lecture entitled "Results of 25 Years Passivhouse Accompanying Research," during which he shared the results of twenty-five years of research and development of energy passive houses.

Professor Feist found the motivation to create the concept already in the seventies. With an energy crisis at hand, back then it was clear that the fossil fuel era is coming to an end. The main problem of this form of energy was mainly carbon dioxide emissions. At that time, great emphasis was placed on replacing fossil fuels with an alternative based nuclear sources. Professor Feist was one of the few scientists to be aware of the potential risks of using nuclear fission energy. He proposed alternative strategies to help replace the use of fossil fuels. He and his colleagues decided to solve the problem at its root. They analyzed the use of large quantities of fossil fuels and came to a surprising conclusion: the largest share of energy consumption comes from building heating. According to his analysis, buildings use up to one third of the total energy generated by power plants.

For involved researchers, it was clear that the issue could be addressed more effectively. That is why they began dealing with the practical question: improving the heating system, heat distribution, window insulation, roof insulation and ventilation systems. In 1988, a passive house standard was defined in a discussion between Professor Bo Adamson of Lund University in Sweden and Wolfgang Feist of the Institut für Wohnen und Umwelt in Germany. Since then, the passive house project evolved and one of the first houses was built in 1990 in Darmstadt, Germany.
The building designated as energy passive house, fulfilled its initial goal - significant energy saving in its operation. Today, an advanced version of these buildings is a zero energy house (nZEB), which uses energy from local sources.